8.9.93
Lu Ping
8.9.93
Zhang Junsheng
8.9.93
Wen Wei Po editorial
CONFIDENTIAL
7
The BL has stipulated that there should be no change to the civil service after 1997. It means that the civil service system should remain as it was when the BL and the
JD were formulated. Governor Patten is making a "false start" and that is not in line with the BL. Any "false start" that
contravenes the BL would be null and void
after 1997. The HK Government made the changes (through the Civil Service Guidelines) surreptitiously in 1990 and the Chinese side would not steal the internal documents of the HK Government. Also the British side had never consulted the Chinese Government on the changes. As it is now making the changes public, the Chinese side has to raise objections.
The Governor is causing confusion in the civil service and the creation of a civil service constituency is in violation of the JD and the BL. Anything that contravenes the JD and the BL will not be retained after 1997. Under the proposed changes, it would be impossible for civil servants to remain neutral because they would be embroiled in struggles among political
groups.
The British proposal to let civil servants participate in politics has run counter to the BL and the JD, in particular BL principles that the executive-led structure must be maintained and that civil servants
must be accountable to the SAR Government.
Civil servants must serve the overall
interests of HK rather than the interests of certain political parties. Otherwise favouritism will be rampant and public resources will be abused. Moreover, if the civil service is dominated by one political party, civil servants who get elected to Legco will almost function like a ruling party, stripping the chief executive of his powers and upsetting the balance of power among various sectors in Legco.
CONFIDENTIAL